


Spring Mornings

by mixthealphabet



Series: And It Grows [15]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Part of a series for a reason, Sort of sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-29
Updated: 2013-10-29
Packaged: 2017-12-30 21:35:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1023639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mixthealphabet/pseuds/mixthealphabet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When they woke up that morning, things changed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spring Mornings

_What I'm trying to say is that I'm feeling a change and I'll let it take all over. If you need time away I won't ask you to stay but I don't want to lose you._

When Lucy Heartfilia woke up that morning, the first thought that crossed her mind was that summer had come quicker than she'd expected it to. And then she realized that it was, in fact, not summer yet, but that the warmth enveloping her came from a certain pink haired dragon slayer, who was still sleeping sonorously by her side.

The girl felt her cheeks flare with a blush, taking in the position they had fallen into during the night. No matter how many overstepped boundaries they went through, she would never get used to having the boy so near.

Natsu's hand had somehow found a way to her tight, inches from the curve of her backside. It wouldn't have been any different from the previous mornings, had she not chosen to wear her favorite camisole to bed. The clothing had ridden up her legs as she slept and it fluttered just above the edge of Natsu's fingers.

It didn't bother her as much as it should have. With time, Lucy had grown used to the boy's obliviousness when it came to personal space. For reasons she didn't dare investigate, he liked to have his hands on her to make sure she was there with him, a need that only seemed to be intensified when they were asleep.

The celestial mage knew that it was the wrong thing to do.

Not for reasons like modesty or because of what others might think – no, that ship had sailed long ago –, but because it did nothing to appease her desire for him. The more Natsu gave her, the more she wanted. She really should have noticed it sooner, with the way she'd promptly accepted his stay during the winter; seeing him at the guild hadn't been enough then. Winter had turned into spring and, now, it was almost summer.

And she wanted him to stay forever.

Lucy sometimes wondered if Natsu was really as dense as he seemed. There were, of course, little things he did, these strange expressions he would send her way, like a leering gaze or a malicious smirk, but it never turned into  _more_. Maybe Natsu did find her attractive – in some recluse, more hormonal-induced part of his brain – but attraction wasn't what she wanted anymore.

It all came back to her realization some weeks before.

The boy had given her somewhere to belong; not only in Fairy Tail, but with him and Happy as well, and she loved him for it. Oh, she loved him.

Lucy rolled in bed, turning away from Natsu and escaping from his touches.

She needed to detoxicate herself and the only way she could do that was to spend some time away from Natsu. It was probably the best option, even if it meant traveling alone.

The celestial mage scrunched up her eyes and repressed a sigh of frustration.

Her letter to the lawyer had resulted in a time limit of two weeks in which she had to go find him in the Heartfilia Manor. The cost of the mansion would be determined by a reunion with the other potential buyer. Apparently, they had the money but refused to accept the no-division clause.

The existence of this second party concerned her, but Lucy tried not to think too much about it. She would have enough time during her journey for worries; there was no use in distressing over something that she had no power over, specially when she still had Happy insulting her every three seconds and Natsu's laughter in her ears.

What would she do without them?

Lucy had known loneliness but, in that moment, as she tried to go back to sleep, she finally understood how unaccustomed to it she'd become since joining Fairy Tail.

* * *

When Natsu Dragneel woke up that morning, the first thought that crossed his mind was that something was missing. He frowned, eyes still closed, and fumbled with the bed sheet, looking for a body that even his hazy mind knew should have been there.

The tip of his fingers brushed against a different texture, and he opened his eyes, curious as to why Lucy had put such distance between them. The light in the room was quite weak, filtered by the curtains, but it illuminated her features perfectly, reflecting on her eyelashes.

The boy pushed himself up, awakeness washing over him.

He had never noticed before, but Lucy's lashes weren't black like most. They were brownish, almost blonde in the sunlight, and it made her look younger, softening everything about her expression.

Natsu smiled, surprised that he hadn't seen it before.

In the years they'd known each other, he'd had his fair share of mornings spent watching over her and had learnt just about every aspect of her complexion. He had memorized her smile and the shape of her lips, had found out about her tendency to mumble when asleep and about the ritual she went through in order to perfect the appearance of her hair.

He didn't know why he did it, though. There weren't many times when the dragon slayer could actually stay still, but all of them seemed to involve Lucy.

He would freeze every time she glared at him and stiffen if she touched him unexpectedly, he would sit in her bed and wait if she was finishing a chapter of her book, he would be paralyzed with fear if she got seriously hurt while on a job, and he would stare at her in the first hours of the day, just before she woke up.

If there was a reason for it all, he didn't know it.

Natsu wasn't one to analyze his feelings. Taking things and breaking them down was something Lucy liked to do and it only gave her headaches. No, he enjoyed doing what he felt like doing, despite how his actions could be interpreted by others. Thinking things through wasn't his forte.

Not that Lucy minded. She could yell at him all she wanted, because he knew her true feelings. If she was seriously annoyed by him, she would act hurt, not angry. That girl had a strange way of behaving herself: it was her quietness, not her rage, that he had to look out for.

Natsu dropped back onto the mattress, throwing his arm over Lucy and pulling her to him. Without hesitation, he pressed his lips against her hair, inhaling the scent of her shampoo. The girl shifted in his hold and, from the jumbled words that started to escape from her lips, the boy realized he'd woken her up.

"Morning." He muttered, lowering his head to nuzzle her nape.

Beside him, Lucy giggled.

"You're tickling me!" She exclaimed, trying to escape from the hold he had on her waist.

Grinning at her reaction, Natsu brushed his fingers against her sides. The girl shrieked, trashing in his arms as he continued to tickle her.

"No!" Her shouts and laughter filled the room, breaking the stagnancy of the morning. "S-Stop! Stop!"

He threw a leg over her hip and hoisted himself up, straddling Lucy in order to stop the kicks she'd been aiming in his direction, and let his hands rest on her ribs.

"You're so noisy." Natsu grinned, satisfied by the blush that covered her face and – as far as he could see – chest. "You're going to wake the neighbors." He bent down, pressing their noses together.

Lucy's eyes widened and she seemed to finally realize the position they were in, because she pushed him away forcefully, making the boy fall off the bed.

She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it after a moment, as if she'd thought better. Natsu chuckled from his spot on the floor, completely blind to the redness that had not receded from the girl's cheeks.

"I guess I deserved that." The dragon slayer smiled at her, eyes searching for hers.

But Lucy had already turned away from him, remaining silent in spite of his words. There was a change in the air around them and the stillness of the next few seconds made something akin to worry bubble in the boy's chest.

"What happened?" Came Happy's voice. The exceed appeared on the doorway, his mouth still full with whatever fish he'd been stealing from Lucy's fridge.

"Nothing, Happy." The girl answered, but didn't move. "I just decided something. That's all."

Natsu tilted his head to the side, surprised. Her sudden change in behavior worried him, as did this  _decision_.

In the last few days, the atmosphere had been a bit tense with Lucy's imminent journey hanging over them. They all knew that going back to her childhood home would have a great effect on the girl, but there was nothing they could do to help her. The Heartfilia Manor and the memories attached to it were things that only Lucy could deal with, no matter how much that idea bothered Natsu.

He hated the fact that he couldn't be with her as she traveled, even if it would only mean trying not to throw up as she let out her anxiety in the form of violence against him.

"What…" Happy glanced at Natsu, his uncertainty clear in his expression. "What did you decide?"

Lucy finally turned to them, smiling softly. She got up, arranging her camisole as best as she could.

"I'll depart for the Heartfilia Manor tomorrow." She fixed her eyes on the blue cat, kneeling in front of him and patting his head in a soothing manner. "The sooner the better. I don't want to lose to some stranger, right?"

Happy shifted his gaze to where Natsu sat. He obviously didn't want the celestial mage to go, lips quivering in an attempt not to cry, but he was also powerless in a situation like this. To the exceed, the pink haired boy was his only hope of stopping her.

"We can go with you!" Natsu pushed himself up, approaching the pair. "I promise we won't trouble anyone. We'll go around the city while you do whatever you have to do, so it won't be a breach of that stupid privacy clause."

He put a hand on her shoulder, leaning down to try to see her expression.

Lucy brushed away his hand and stood up. She looked at him over her shoulder, before staring ahead, as if avoiding his gaze.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Natsu. Things could go wrong. I can't take chances." She spoke to the wall, wrapping her arms around herself. "I won't be long, I promise."

Happy flew over to her, perching on top of her shoulder.

"It's not the same without Lu-shy." He complained. "Can't I go? We don't have to take Natsu."

His suggestion was met with an indignant shout from the dragon slayer and a giggle from the girl.

"Let me go!" The boy pleaded, a childish grin printed on his lips. "I promise I'll be good!"

Lucy met his eyes, then, a frown etched on her face that told of an irritation that he wasn't quite used to. Natsu took a step back, cautiously watching as the celestial mage set Happy down on the mattress.

"You can't, ok?!" She huffed out. "Stop asking!"

The aggressiveness in her voice was enough to set him on edge. Natsu scowled at her, suddenly annoyed by her moodiness.

"What is wrong with you, Luce?" He asked, stomping his foot. "You're fine one moment and all weird the next! We are best friends, so what's with all this… this…" He fumbled with his words. "Hostility?!"

Lucy was taken aback by this, he could see it in the way her eyes widened and her expression softened. Natsu looked down, ashamed that he'd yelled at her.

"This isn't working."

The boy lifted his gaze once again, forehead wrinkled in confusion. The sadness that he saw in her eyes surprised him, for he hadn't expected her to react so drastically to his scolding. Nobody ever took him seriously.

"We are best friends, Natsu." She started, running a hand through her hair frantically. "Being together all the time… It's not what best friends do, not to this extent. Some time away will be good. I'm– I'm your best friend. Not your sister, not your daughter, not your… Not your girlfriend." She laughed, but there was no humor in the twist of her lips. "This isn't working anymore." She repeated.

Happy and Natsu stared at her.

"What do you mean, Lu-shy?" Tears were already filling the exceed's eyes.

She looked at them for a long moment, before grabbing the clothes she'd separated the previous night and heading for the bathroom.

"I'll make arrangements for my trip today and I'll take the train tomorrow." She sighed, pausing at the doorway. "It will probably be summer when I come back." She turned to them, smiling. "I think it's time for you guys to go back home."

Happy tried to say something, but he was interrupted by the sound of the bathroom door locking. He sniffed, but made no more tries to talk, sending a distressed look in Natsu's direction.

The dragon slayer, however, was frozen in shock; his mind had drawn a blank. He could see right through her: the light tremble of her legs, the way her lips turned downwards, like they did when she was about to cry. Yet, he couldn't figure out why she would do something like that, specially when it brought her such pain.

"Did Lucy throw us out?" Happy questioned, tears running down his fur.

Natsu grinded his teeth, trying to suppress his own urge to cry. He nodded.

When Lucy got that letter, the one about buying back her old childhood home, he'd been a bit worried about what it might mean. Would she go away? Would she leave them in order to recover what had been of her family name? He couldn't really see the girl doing those things, but the concern was there, nonetheless.

She'd become his home; best friend, partner, the major constant in a life of incredible adventures and uncertainties. And, now, for some reason he couldn't comprehend, he was losing her, like he had lost Igneel all those years ago.

As it turned out, Lucy had found another way to make him stand still.

**Author's Note:**

> So...
> 
> I'm sorry this took so long but I have good news! I have finally taken my entrance exams, so I'll probably have more time to write and to organize all these things. I have the next few parts already planned out, now I just need to go through this week of things I postponed for the sake of studying and I'll start writing them!
> 
> I know this one is sort of sad, but I promise it won't stick. I just felt like a serious fight was an important part of every relationship and these two definitely needed one. Not only that, but Natsu needed a little push on the whole "realizing his feelings" thing.
> 
> The next part will be very sweet, I promise.
> 
> A big thank you to all the readers, you guys have no idea how happy you make me. A special shout out to smiling-me from tumblr for being such a sweety to me when I was in distress.
> 
> The song is Feelings Show, by Colbie Caillat.
> 
> P.S.: The repeated title was intentional.


End file.
